Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4: Phone, Tablet and a PC
Samsung is back again with its most innovative series of smartphones: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Samsung Galaxy Flip 4. But at the moment, we’ve decided to emphasise more on the Galaxy Fold 4; we’ll save the review for Z Flip 4 and Z Fold 4 for later when the phones come out for sales.
We’re all aware that Samsung is the true pioneer of foldable smartphones, if not a pioneer in a literal sense. While it provided the best version among its other competitors back in 2019, like HTC, etcetera, there were a lot of complications in the first version of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold. But since then, Samsung has put in a lot of effort to make the foldable experience better at every step.
Samsung took a tremendous leap of progress while making the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2, as the first version of the phone created a lot of chaos among the first-unit buyers. It was not mentioned anywhere that you are not supposed to remove the thin film layer on top of the screen. Many people, including some famous tech YouTubers, faced the ordeal of broken and glitched displays because of the mentioned issue.
Inevitably, the first version of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold was recalled and then came Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 was highly applauded for groundbreaking innovation in the tech world with its flagship Snapdragon 865 SoC.
It was a big deal because building a fully functional phone with a foldable OLED display and a flagship processor was not easy to achieve back then. And since then, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold phones have maintained and improvised these factors.
“But how is the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 any different then?”
Performance, design and display specs in any phone, especially an Android phone, matter a lot. However, an OS also matters.
Because at the end of the day, the usage and development of apps depend on the OS.
Starting from Android 10 in Samsung Galaxy Fold 2, we’ve finally landed on Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, which does not just have Android 12; it has Android 12L. It is the first device launched with the stable version of Android 12L.
For the ones unaware of Android 12L, it is another version of Android 12 mainly made for larger screens like foldable phones, tablets and Chromebooks. In even simpler terms, It’s like iPadOS. You get access to a two-column view for multitasking, a taskbar for accessing apps of your choice and an optimised larger view of apps.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 has Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC and a 4400 mAh battery, which clearly indicates that Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 has got the perfect balance between good performance and battery longevity.
Paired with Android 12L, you get a mini PC-like experience, equivalent to how the iPad works as a mini-MacBook.
There’s not much change to be seen on the display spec sheet. However, as per most renowned tech experts, the primary display panel is now more scratchproof than earlier, which is difficult to achieve. It is so because you can only use plastic for making foldable phones, and we all know how easily plastics get scratched.
FYI, for additional scratch-proofing, you can head to our site and look for Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 Full-Body/ Screen Protectors or Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 skins if you want to add a bit of flair to the back panel.
Combining the display, performance, battery and the Android 12L OS, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 will give you the kind of experience you generally get in iPads. Moreover, you can turn on DeX mode and connect it to an external display for a full-blown Chromebook PC.
So, not only does the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 gives you access to a makeshift Android tablet, but you also get to use it as a Chromebook if required.
“That’s great, but what about the skyrocketed pricing?”
Pricing is the only factor that is a prominent issue while buying, as it is utterly expensive.
The starting pricing of a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is 1.55 Lacs INR, FYI.
Fun fact? You can buy two iPhone mini version base models with that money. Moreover, inflation is real, so yes, it is expensive, indeed.
However, there’s an unpopular opinion about the pricing that we agree on: It is priced somewhat okay-ish.
It’s a controversial opinion, but it’s agreeable because there’s no viable competition for foldable phones in the global market.
Xiaomi and Oppo have good foldable phones limited to China exclusively, and there’s no confirmation on when or whether these phones will launch globally. Microsoft’s Surface Duo is there but isn’t the standard you’d look for in a foldable smartphone. Hence, Samsung is not backing down on the price of their foldable phones.
And moreover, a foldable phone is one of the most innovative techs you can get your hands on these days, hence, the high buck pricing.
But we assure you: it is totally worth it.
